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1972’s blockbuster smash THE GODFATHER began an onslaught of gangster movies released to your neighborhood theaters and drive-ins trying to capitalize on that film’s success. American-International Pictures was right in the thick of it, and since Blaxploitation was all the rage at the time, why not combine the two hottest genres? Producer/director/genius Larry Cohen already had a script written for Sammy Davis Jr., but when Sammy backed out, AIP Boss of Bosses Samuel Z. Arkoff signed Fred “The Hammer” Williamson to star as the Godfather of Harlem, BLACK CAESAR.

BLACK CAESAR is a semi-remake of the 1932 classic LITTLE CAESAR starring Edward G. Robinson, updated for the Blaxploitation/Grindhouse crowd and spun around on it’s head by Larry Cohen. You already know how much I enjoy Cohen’s work, and the auteur doesn’t fail to deliver the goods with this one. Casting the charismatic former NFL star Williamson was a bonus, and…

You may remember Jesse Crowder as the super cool and unflappable private detective from Death Journey. Jesse was a Los Angeles cop but now he works independently. There’s literally nothing that Jesse can’t do. Ride a horse? Ride a motorcycle? Slow motion kung fu? Jesse can do it all and he usually do it without bothering to button up his shirt. Jesse is such a badass that he can kill more people in the time it takes for him to light a cigar than most people will kill in their entire lifetime.

The 1976 film No Way Back is the second Jesse Crowder film. Once again, Fred Williamson both directs and stars as Jesse. Williamson is in almost every scene of the film and when he’s not killing bad guys or having sex or just posing with his shirt off, he’s listening to people talk about what a badass he is. In short, No Way Back is a vanity project but it’s a vanity project with a sense of humor. Watching the film, you get the feeling that Williamson knows that No Way Back is kind of silly but, at the same time, he’s having fun and he wants everyone watching to have fun too.

No Way Back‘s plot involves a missing man and a lot of money. Henry Pickens (Charles Woolf) worked at a bank but, one day, he grabbed a briefcase full of money, jumped in a car driven by his girlfriend (Tracy Reed), and disappeared. Everyone was shocked but you know who was really shocked? His wife! Mildred Pickens (Virginia Gregg) and Henry’s brother both want to know to where Henry has vanished. They hire Jesse, perhaps finding solace in his catch phrase: “You pay the bill, I’ll deliver it. Legal, illegal, moral or otherwise.”

Not surprisingly, it doesn’t take long for Jesse to figure out that Perkins is in San Francisco. Jesse lights his cigar and heads for the Bay City. However, Jesse isn’t the only one looking for Henry Pickens. There’s also a gangster named Bernie (Stack Pierce) who is determined to get the money for himself. Much as in Death Journey, it doesn’t matter where Jesse goes or how he gets there. As soon as he arrives, he people are trying to kill him. Unfortunately, for them, no one can kill Jesse Crowder.

It all leads to a savage gun battle in the desert. Fred Williamson jumps up on a horse, unbuttons his shirt, and rides across the screen. People are betrayed. People get shot. Fortunately, no one can touch Jesse Crowder…

Anyway, No Way Back doesn’t really make any sense. If you happen to watch this film (and I saw it on YouTube), just try to keep track of why Henry stole all of that money in the first place. However, the plot isn’t really that important. This film is all about Fred Williamson beating up gangsters and walking around without a shirt on. It’s a dumb action movie but it never pretends to be anything different and the film’s total lack of pretension is enjoyable. That’s always a good thing.

It’s a small Southern town, popularly known as Bucktown. It’s a town where you can literally get anything, as long as you know who to pay off. Upon arriving, don’t be surprised if a little kid approaches you and asks you what you’re looking for. He can get it for you. That kid had connections!

The population of Buchanan is almost entirely African-American but all of the cops are white. Under the leadership of the redneck police chief (Art Lund), the cops have turned Buchanan into their own private kingdom. If you want to do anything in Buchanan, you have to be ready to pay the cops for protection. Refuse and you’ll get arrested. Continue to refuse and you’ll probably end up getting shot.

Obviously, someone needs to clean up Buchanan? But who!?

How about Duke Johnson (Fred Williamson)? Duke’s brother owned the hottest nightclub in Bucktown, Club Alabama. Or, at least he did until he announced he wasn’t going to pay anymore protection and he ended up getting gunned down by the cops. When Duke arrives in town, he thinks that he’s just going to stay long enough to attend the funeral and sell his brother’s bar. However, when Duke find out that he has to wait 60 days until he can sell the bar, he decides to stick around. Not only does he move in with his brother’s former lover, Aretha (Pam Grier), but also reopens the Club Alabama.

Soon, the cops are coming around and demanding their share. However, they quickly discover that no one tells Duke Johnson what to do. Like all good action heroes, Duke has friends all over the country. He places a call to Roy (Thalmus Rasulala) and soon, Roy, TJ (Tony King), and Hambone (Carl Weathers) show up in Bucktown. They quickly wipe out the corrupt police force. The local citizens are so happy that they make Roy the new police chief and his men the new police force.

Unfortunately, that turns out to be a mistake. Apparently, giving some totally random dude complete and total authority to enforce the law in whatever he sees fit isn’t always the best way to handle things. Roy and his men quickly become just as corrupt as the old redneck policemen. The only thing protecting Duke is his friendship with Roy but even that is endangered when T.J. decides that he wants Aretha for himself. T.J. decides to turn Roy and Duke against each other. It all eventually leads to an epic fist fight, with the winner earning the right to remain in Bucktown…

(Of course, you may be wondering why anyone would want to remain in Bucktown as the place is kind of a dump, regardless of who’s in charge.)

Released in 1975, Bucktown is a pretty basic action film but I liked it because it appealed to all of my anti-authoritarian impulses. There have been so many movies about what it takes to clean up a town but there haven’t been many made about what actually happens after all of the corrupt cops and greedy businessmen have been kicked out. Thalmus Rusulala was great as the charismatic but dangerous Roy and Tony King, a favorite of Italian exploitation fans everywhere, was an effective villain. Pam Grier doesn’t get to do much but she does the best with what she’s provided. Of course, the entire film is dominated by Fred Williamson, who may not have been a great actor but who had an undeniable screen presence. Williamson struts through the film like the hero of stylish Spaghetti western.

Bucktown is an entertaining 70s action film. Though it doesn’t deeply explore any of the issues that it raises, it still deserves some credit for raising them. If nothing else, it’s a film that shows why Fred Williamson retains a cult following to this day.

You’re the district attorney of Manhattan. You’ve got a chance to convict the city’s most powerful mob boss on some pretty serious charges. In fact, you’ve got three eye witnesses who are willing to testify against him. Sounds pretty good so far, right?

But wait a minute! One of your eyewitnesses just died. Oh well. You’ve still got two left and surely, the police can protect two… oh wait. Hold on. Okay, you know that second witness that you had? Well, he just got blown up or something. Now, you’ve only got one witness left. He’s a weaselly little mob accountant named Finley (Bernard Kirby). He’s really not a bad guy, once you get past all of the Hawaiian shirts and his obsession with candy. The only problem is that Finley is in California and you’re in New York. How are you going to get Finley across the country without him getting blown up by the mob?

Well, let’s see. You could ask the government for help but when was the last time government managed to do anything without screwing it up. You could reach out to the FBI or something like that. Maybe Finley could go into witness protection. I mean, it’s worked for a countless number of other mob associates…

But no. There’s no way Finley could survive in witness protection. He’d probably give himself away as soon as someone offered him a candy bar. Seriously, Finley is really obsessed with chocolate.

No, what you’re going to do is you’re going to call up Jesse Crowder (Fred Williamson). Crowder used to be a cop but now he’s a private eye. He’s a lot like Shaft, except he doesn’t ever get political. There’s really nothing that Jesse Crowder can’t do. He’s a marksman. He’s a fighter. He’s a lover. When we first see him, he’s doing kung fu in slow motion. If you really needed proof that Jesse Crowder is the ultimate badass, consider this: he smokes cigars. You read that correctly.

Now, you may be asking yourself: why would the Manhattan district attorney know a Los Angeles private eye? Because everyone knows Jesse Crowder, that’s why.

Anyway, Jesse agrees to take the case. He’ll escort Finley to New York, on the condition that he get paid $25,000 upon arrival. Of course, if he has to kill a lot of people, Jesse expects to be paid $50,000.

Needless to say, Jesse does end up having to kill a lot of people. It’s not really his fault, of course. They just keep popping up and getting in his way. Jesse tries all sorts of ways to get Finley to New York. He tries to drive him. He tries to take the train. No matter what he does, the mob shows up. Is it possible that the mob had someone inside the district attorney’s office?

Fred Williamson not only starred in 1976’s Death Journey but he directed it as well. Though it’s obvious that Williamson didn’t have much of a budget to work with, he still did a fairly good job with Death Journey. Certainly, his direction here feels stronger than it did in Mean Johnny Barrows. In its own undeniably dumb way, Death Journey‘s a fun action movie. Williamson may not have been a great actor but he had a strong screen presence and it’s impossible not to be amused by the fact that, no matter what he does or where he goes, somewhat inevitably pops out of the shadows and tries to kill him. With the exception of that opening kung fu sequence that goes on forever, Death Journey is a fast-paced action film. The film only last 74 minutes so, right when you start to wonder if Williamson’s ever going to show any personality beyond being a cocky badass, the movie ends.

If you’re a fan of low-budget 70s action films, you’ll probably enjoy Death Journey. If you don’t enjoy it, just make sure Jesse Crowder doesn’t find out. After all, he knows karate.

“Dedicated to the veteran who traded his place on the front line for a place on the unemployment line. Peace is Hell.”

— the end credits of Mean Johnny Barrows (1976)

“He’s not that mean.”

— Me, while watch Mean Johnny Barrows

Who is Johnny Barrows? As played by blaxploitation star Fred Williamson, Johnny Barrows is a former football great who later served in Vietnam and won several silver stars. As a soldier, he killed an untold number of people but he is always quick to explain that he wouldn’t do the same thing as a civilian. Even after the war ended, Johnny remained in the army, teaching new recruits. He was good at his job but, one day, a racist officer decided to play a stupid trick on Johnny. During a training exercise, that officer put a live landmine out on the training grounds. After defusing the mine, Johnny promptly punched the officer. The result? A dishonorable discharge and the lesson that peace is Hell.

Johnny returns to Los Angeles and discovers that the country he fought for isn’t willing to fight for him. Because of his dishonorable discharge, Johnny can’t find a good job. Because he can’t find a job, he can’t afford a place to live. Johnny stays on the streets. His only friend is a self-described philosophy professor (Elliott Gould, in an amusing cameo) who teaches Johnny all about soup kitchens.

When Johnny steps into an Italian restaurant and asks for food, he is shocked to discover that the owner, Mario Racconi (Stuart Whitman), knows who he is. Mario says that he played against Johnny in a high school football game. (Perhaps Johnny’s shock is due to the fact that Mario appears to be at least ten years older than him.) Mario gives Johnny something to eat and even offers him a job. Realizing that the work is mob-related, Johnny says that he’s not interested. He’s not going to break the law…

And here’s where we run into a problem with the film’s title. The film is entitled Mean Johnny Barrows but, so far, he’s been almost painfully nice. Then again, Mild Johnny Barrows doesn’t have much of a ring to it.

Anyway, Johnny does try to stay out of trouble. He even manages to land a demeaning job cleaning the toilets at a gas station. But his boss (R.G. Armstrong) is a real jerk and Johnny has his dignity, no matter how much the world wants to take it away from him. Finally, Johnny agrees to work with the Racconi Family. Not only does he become friends with Mario but he also falls for Mario’s girlfriend, Nancy (Jenny Sherman).

Unfortunately, not all Mafia families are as kind-hearted and generous as the Racconi Family. The Da Vinci family wants to flood Los Angles with drugs. It’s all the master plan of Tony Da Vinci (Roddy McDowall). Tony is eager to prove himself to his father and what better way to do that than to smuggle heroin? Tony also loves flowers because … well, why not? Anyway, when the Racconis object to Tony’s scheme, a mob war erupts. Nearly all of the Racconis are killed. It looks like it’s time for Johnny Barrows to put on his white suit, pick up a gun, and get vengeance for his surrogate family.

There are some pretty obvious problems with Mean Johnny Barrows, not the least of which is the casting of Roddy McDowall — perhaps the least Italian actor in the history of cinema — as a ruthless mafioso. After having starred in several successful blaxploitation films, Fred Williamson made his directorial debut with Mean Johnny Barrows. Williamson’s inexperience as director shines through almost every minute of Mean Johnny Barrows. Though he does well with the action scenes, there are other parts of the film where Williamson doesn’t even seem to be sure where he should point the camera. With almost every role miscast, the performances are pretty inconsistent but Williamson gives a good performance (it’s obvious that he understood his strengths and weaknesses as an actor) and Elliott Gould is an entertaining oddity as the Professor.

If anything saves the film, it’s that Williamson’s anger at the way America treats its veterans feels sincere. The heart of the film is in the first half, which details Johnny’s struggle to simply survive from one day to the next. Even if Williamson’s direction is often shaky, the film’s rage is so authentic that you do get caught up in Johnny’s story. The film ends on a properly down note, suggesting that, for men like Johnny Barrows, there is no hope to be found in America.

I’ve covered producer/writer/director Larry Cohen’s marvelously manic work in the horror genre ( IT’S ALIVE! , GOD TOLD ME TO ), but did you know the low-budget auteur also contributed some solid entries to the Blaxploitation field? Cohen’s gangster epic BLACK CAESAR starred Fred “The Hammer” Williamson and was such a smash a sequel was rushed into production and released ten months later. HELL UP IN HARLEM picks up right where the original left off, as ‘Black Caesar’ Tommy Gibbs is set up by corrupt DA DiAngelo and shot on the streets of New York City. Tommy has possession of some ledgers with the names of all the crooked politicians and cops on his payroll, and DiAngelo and his Mafioso friends want to put him out of circulation for good. Escaping via a wild taxi ride, Tommy is back in business and out for revenge.

This enables Cohen to serve up a series of crazy/cool set pieces that…

Crazy Joe (Peter Boyle) is a gangster with a chip on his shoulder and a self-taught intellectual who can (misquote) Sartre and Camus with the best of them. Sick of being taken for granted, Joe and his brother, Richie (Rip Torn), attempt to challenge the Mafia establishment. The mob sets Joe up and gets him sent to prison. While doing time, Joe befriends a Harlem gangster named Willy (Fred Williamson). Refusing to associate with the other Italian prisoners, Joe allies himself with the black inmates and even helps to start a riot over the prison’s inhumane conditions. When he is released, Joe hits the streets of New York with a vengeance, now backed up by Willy and his criminal organization.

Crazy Joe is based on the life of Joey Gallo, who was briefly a New York celebrity, hobnobbing with actors like Jerry Orbach and writers like Norman Mailer before he was gunned down at Umberto’s Clam Shop in Little Italy. Though the names were changed to protect the guilty, Eli Wallach plays Vito Genovese, Charles Cioffi plays Joe Columbo, and Luther Adler is Joe Profaci. Fred Williamson’s character is based on the infamous Nicky Barnes.

Crazy Joe is a good and violent mix of the gangster, prison, and blaxploitation genres. Despite wearing an unfortunate toupee, Peter Boyle is great at putting the crazy in Crazy Joe and Fred Williamson ups the coolness factor of any movie he appears in. Keep an eye out for Henry Winkler, giving a very un-Fonzie performance as Joe’s right-hand man.